


you’re really pretty, girl

by kopycat_101



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adorable Marc Anciel, Alix is mentioned but she doesn't appear. RIP., Alternate Universe - College/University, As well as giving Jalil a character outside of Conspiracy Theorist, Banter, Best Friends, Canon Jewish Character, Cool brain: make your favorite couple have two cool older sisters, Crush at First Sight, Crushes, Disaster Lesbians, Expanding the Kurtzberg and Anciel families, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Female Friendship, Female Jewish Character, Femslash, First Meetings, Flirting, Friendship, Galaxy brain: ship the older sisters together to make two sets of gay siblings, Jalil has autism and Jaina has ADHD, Jewish Character, Just gals...being pals...haha jkjk...unless?, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Jewish Character(s), LGBTQ Themes, Love at First Sight, Male-Female Friendship, Meet-Cute, OC/OC - Freeform, POV Female Character, POV Jewish Character, Panicked Pansexuals, Pansexual Character, Pre-Canon, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Siblings, Strong Female Characters, Teen Crush, They are also wlw/mlm solidarity, Women Being Awesome, Women loving women and women supporting women, tfw you see a hot girl that could break you in half and ur into that, tfw you use your best friend to pretend you have a boyfriend to keep the fuckbois away, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25351939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kopycat_101/pseuds/kopycat_101
Summary: Jaina is ready to go to Freshman Orientation and whatever it throws at her. And it throws boys at her. She’s not exactly having any of it, grateful that her best friend Jalil lets her use him as a cover. She’d rather talk to the cool-looking girl with the undercut and leather jacket.Blemir decides to weather through the slog of Freshman Orientation to have a good start at university, only to have her attention instantly snatched by an amazon of a woman with curly, red hair and a nice smile. Boys are constantly trying to chat her up, but the redhead only seems to want to talk to Blemir instead.(The fic where Nathaniel and Marc have older sisters, who are both also supremely gay, and who end up meeting before the boys ever do.)
Relationships: Jalil Kubdel & Original Female Character(s), Marc Anciel & Original Anciel Character(s), Marc Anciel & Original Character(s), Nathaniel Kurtzberg & Original Character(s), Nathaniel Kurtzberg & Original Kurtzberg Character(s), Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 15





	you’re really pretty, girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bloodwebs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodwebs/gifts).



> I've been enabled by the MarcNath discord server as a whole to write this. I showed them one (1) drawing of my OC Jaina, who is Nath's older sister, and they literally exploded.
> 
> We came to the galaxy brain conclusion that if both Nathaniel and Marc have gay older sisters...we can take those sisters...and ship them together.
> 
> On top of Girls Loving Girls hours, I also added in some worldbuilding, character building, friendships, and sibling scenes in order to flesh things out more. Also, because I have no self control.

* * *

“Freshman Orientation’s tomorrow,” Jaina says, in the middle of painting her nails, lounging on the other side of her best friend’s bed. “You got any tips for me, bff?”

Jalil looks up from the book he’s reading—another Egyptian mythology book, as was typical— blinking at her. “Oh…? That soon already?”

“Yeah. Summer’s flying by way too quick,” she sighs, before sticking her tongue out, watching her best friend’s bemused smile. “It sucks. We won’t get to hang as much!”

“We’ll figure out ways to coordinate our schedule, I’m sure,” Jalil assures her, nudging his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “The fact that we’re in the same university helps.”

“Yeah,” Jaina nods, carefully nudging his leg with her toes. Actually, she should probably paint those next. Hm. “So? Tips?”

“Freshman Orientation is long, and not incredibly interesting,” Jalil shrugs, carefully bookmarking his book and setting it aside, like the good nerd he was. “You sit through some Powerpoint presentations about the university’s major and facilities, you walk around for a bit in a short tour around the rec center. You can either stay and be the first in line to declare your majors and figure out your schedule, or you can go on a proper campus tour. For the most part, it’s a lot of sitting around and listening to people talk.”

“Ah yes, my favorite,” Jaina states seriously, just to make her bff snort out a laugh. “Do they at least feed us lunch for the trouble?”

“They have snacks and refreshments, from what I can remember.”

“Bitchin’.” A pause, as she considers. “I guess that also leaves time to talk to the other freshman too, huh?”

“Yes, there’ll be stretches of time in-between presentations and working out your schedule for you to talk to the other freshman there,” Jalil nods, frowning slightly. “Which I’m sure you won’t have any problems with, but…”

“But there’s always assholes out there,” she sighs, finishing his statement. She blows on her nails to get them to dry quicker. “Hey, can I do that thing where—”

“Oh, absolutely,” he nods empathetically. “If you need to use me as a cover, do it.”

“You’re a _lifesaver_ ,” Jaina states, leaning over to headbutt his shoulder. “Thanks, bae.”

“Please never call me that again—”

“Boo?”

“No.”

“Babycakes?”

Jalil shoves at her head. “Now you’re just making things weird for the sake of it.”

“Are you really that surprised?” she grins toothily, but leans away from him all the same. “Thanks, though. I’ll keep our Halloween pics locked and loaded, just in case.”

Jalil wrinkles his nose slightly. “You want to claim you’re dating Jack Skellington?”

“My dude, you look _killer_ in that Jack Skellington costume, don’t lie,” Jaina laughs, gently nudging his thigh with her foot. She really went all-out on their costumes for Jack and Sally last Halloween, even straightening her mass of hair for the occasion. “’Sides, assholes clam up _real_ quick when I tell them I have a boyfriend and show off our coordinated costumes. The hetero-couple vibes we’ve got are _astounding_.”

“You’re the one that insists we wear matching costumes,” Jalil deadpans. “Which is a thing most romantic couples do.”

“Hey, it’s fun, for one! And two, it _works_ ,” she points out smugly. “And you use them to shut up assholes, too. Bet it feels great to show ‘em you’ve got a hot girlfriend, even if it’s all a ruse.”

“I suppose it is…” Jalil muses, smirking slightly. “The looks on their faces are always priceless. Their jaws drop when they see you’re a ten.”

“Pffffff, charmer,” she jokes.

“That’s what happens when your best friend is a ten, and you’re barely scraping by at a four,” Jalil sighs dramatically.

“Dude, shut _up_ , you’re a ten too!”

“Scientifically untrue, but go off, I guess.”

“No, no, c’mon! When you let me do your hair and makeup and clothes, you’re fucking fire, dude. A total ten,” she emphasizes, poking him with one of her nails. Which are already dry, thankfully. Jalil swore that if she gets nail polish on his clothes one more time, he was going to riot.

“Possibly,” he allows, “but in your costumes, you easily shoot up to a twelve.”

“Hey, why do you think I use the Halloween pics so much? We look like a power couple,” she shrugs, snorting out a laugh. “You’re too anxious to go clubbing, so this is how I get you all dolled up and looking hot. Plus, you’ve got the perfect pics for when you finally make a dating profile—”

“Which will _never_ happen!” he sputters, going pink in the face. “Dating apps are for—for hookups and one-night-stands!”

“Bruh, that’s for like, Grindr and stuff. Most dating apps are for _actual_ dating.”

“That’s still not my motif, regardless,” he huffs out, rubbing at one of his pink cheeks. “And isn’t it false advertising, if I just use the Halloween pictures, where I look my best?”

“That’s why you balance your profile out with pictures of you looking more normal, you hipster,” she teases. “I’ve taken some cute selfies of you. Add in some pics of you gussied up for presentations, and you’ll blow ‘em away.”

“I still _highly_ doubt anyone will be interested, considering how I faired in the basic education system,” he snorts dryly.

“Y’know what? Fair,” Jaina grimaces, patting him on the shoulder sympathetically. Considering a number of factors, Jalil was bullied for most of the time in the education system, barring his last year of high school. And that was mostly because Jaina was in his school to literally fight the bullies.

“But hey! Some people like the intellectual types,” she points out encouragingly. “And you’re dead-set on getting a doctorate, which is pretty fancy and intellectual. I betcha that at some point, you’ll be getting a girl or guy who thinks it’s hot!”

“…Maybe,” Jalil ends up saying, after a long few seconds. He shakes his head, the conflicted look on his face melting away. “You should be more worried about tomorrow, anyways. Text me or call me if you need to.”

“Will do!” she chirps, giving him a two-fingered salute. She feels relieved when he smiles back at her, fondly amused. “Can I paint your nails today, or d’ya gotta still keep things professional in your internship?”

Her best friend tilts his head, considering. “Well, I doubt my father or Mr. Clavelle will kick up a fuss… And I can just take it off with nail polish remover if someone tells me otherwise.” He shrugs extending his hands towards her. “Alright, go for it, but just go with a basic color.”

“Nice!” she hoots, already digging through her bag of nail polish. “I’ll give you a blue to match your eyes. How’s that?”

“A classic choice,” he tells her gravely, a small smile still on his face.

Jaina’s always glad that Jalil is chill with her putting makeup on him or doing his nails, so long as she doesn’t go bananas. Her baby brother rarely lets her, because Nathaniel’s somehow even more anxious and shy than her best friend is.

But hey! If Nathaniel ever needs to look cute for a date or something, he knows he can go to his big sister for help. Same for if Jalil’s little sis Alix ever wants to try makeup. And if there’s anyone that Jalil ever wants to impress, she’s got his back, too.

“So, what book’re reading now?” she asks Jalil curiously as she gets to work on his nails, looking up to see his blue eyes go bright behind his glasses.

She lets her best friend gush and babble about his special interest, feeling at peace.

* * *

Blemir Anciel has never been one to be nervous. Or, at the very least, show her nervousness.

She’s always had to put up a strong front. She has a responsibility to herself and her little brother to be strong and independent. Marc is a shy and sweet boy, and she’ll shield him from the cruel world as much as she can.

Her moms try to tell her differently. But habits are hard to break, even after it two years of being adopted. Blemir’s used to playing the role of the big sister that protects her brother, not to mention herself, from trouble.

People were assholes, and you can’t give in an inch without them wanting to take a mile.

So, Blemir doesn’t get nervous. But Freshman Orientation is another beast entirely.

The auditorium the students are ushered into gets filled really quickly. It’s a massive space, with tons of seating. Half the freshman have their parents with them, and half don’t.

Blemir had insisted she go it alone, not wanting to bother her moms. Besides, she’s an adult. She’s going to university. She can take care of herself. It’s not like Freshman Orientation is a big deal or anything.

University’s a fresh start, though. And this one is a well-known, high-ranking one. And it’s much bigger than her old high school by a good ten times, if not more.

So Blemir awkwardly sits by herself near the back, in an aisle seat, a folder with all her materials balanced on her lap as she texts her friends-that-are-totally-not-a-gang-no-siree.

The orientation itself is a long and tedious thing, she soon finds. Most of the information they go over can literally be found on the fucking university website. And the stuff that isn’t covered by that gets covered by the handouts that get shoved at them when they first walk through the doors.

Essentially, this entire deal isn’t even needed. Blemir could’ve taken the handouts, turned right around, and left. Or not have come at all. She would’ve figured shit out on her own.

But, no. She’s trying to turn over a new leaf. Be, like, _responsible_ and shit.

Blemir tries to pay attention, and follow along on the handouts. She really does. But she’s bored to tears after the first twenty minutes.

Her gaze wanders the auditorium. Lots of people around her look snobby. Makes sense, since this is a high-ranking university, and all.

She feels supremely out-of-place, with her half-shaved head and leather jacket and combat boots. She probably looks like the poster child of a delinquent. Or a gang member. Hah. Ironic.

Her eyes stall. A few rows in front of her, someone has a mass of curly, red hair. The color is eye-catching. It could only be natural.

Well, that’s rare. It looks so big and floofy, too…

* * *

Blemir blinks out of her reverie, at the announcer at the front calling for a break.

There’s a collective sigh from those seated in the auditorium. Sitting around for a full hour listening to a lecture isn’t exactly very exciting. People start to mutter and get up.

Blemir’s mouth almost drops open when the student with the curly red hair stands up and starts to stretch right away, because oh _wow_. What a fucking amazon of a woman. Holy shit.

The redhead must be at _least_ six feet tall. And her biceps are about as big as Blemir’s head. Jesus Christ.

“ _She could suplex me, and I’d thank her_ ,” Blemir thinks, a bit dreamily.

“Geeze, sitting around just isn’t my style!” she hears the gorgeous Amazon say, with a bright laugh. The person sitting next to her—some guy who looks like he smokes pot every day—smiles at the redhead in a way that’s probably supposed to be charming.

And like moths to a flame, male students start to turn and stare at the redhead, riveted.

It’s like watching a nature documentary on mating rituals, Blemir notes with disgusted fascination, as guys start to insert themselves into conversation with the tall girl. The girl simply smiles back at them and chatters along.

Feeling disgruntled and disappointed, Blemir stands to pop her back, crack her neck, and overall look as intimidating as possible as she stomps over to the snack table in the back corner. She’s not hungry, but she could go for a soda.

The break’s supposed to be for people to figure out if they’re staying in the building or leaving to go on one of the campus tours. Blemir feels like chugging two Mt. Dew’s is a more productive use of her time.

‘Sides, it’s not like she was gonna board in the dorms. She’ll probably mainly be staying in her major’s department and go to the rec center, library, and cafeteria when the need arises. Anything else she’ll need, she can just look up where to go. Not like a tour will help her any better with finding directions, when she’ll forget it all anyways.

Blemir picks up a third Mt. Dew and a package of Oreos from the bored-looking lady manning the snack table, and then goes back to her seat.

When she gets back, the redheaded Amazon is still talking loudly to a gaggle of starstruck boys. “Oh…! Well, my boyfriend already goes here, actually! I’ve been on campus enough times, I don’t need to tour the place.”

Like a forcefield going up, all the hanger-ons rear back as one. Blemir snorts, smothering her laughter into her fist.

Actually, if Blemir looks closely enough, the redhead’s smile seems more polite than anything when she’s talking. She’s definitely just humoring these boys until they leave her alone.

“Here, lemme find some pics of him…On Halloween, he went as Jack Skellington, and I was his Sally! I did both our makeup and stuff.”

The way the redhead shows off her phone, it was like she was a priestess holding up a talisman to ward off demons. Two fuckboy-looking guys leave in a huff, one other dude just slinks away without a word, and one guy awkwardly smiles and makes some polite excuse before hightailing it of there.

Even the guy who looked like a huge pot smoker seems to wilt, the smile on his face looking like it was only staying from pure willpower alone.

Blemir couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Some guys really were shamelessly obvious about wanting to get in a girl’s pants, huh…?

There’s comes an announcement from the front by an older gentleman using the stage’s microphone. “All those that would like a campus tour, please follow our guides by the exit. All those that want to stay to sign up for classes, please wait here until we guide you to the ballroom. Thank you.”

Blemir stays in her seat, munching idly on her pilfered package of Oreos, wondering what major the redheaded amazon is in. Maybe Kinesiology? Or something else related to Physical Education. Hell, the girl seems like she could fit just about anywhere with how outgoing she is…

Eh. It’s not like she’ll ever see the girl again. It’s a shame, but it’s what’s likely going to happen. Her boyfriend’s a lucky sonofabitch, whoever he is.

* * *

Jaina can only internally cheer as her plan works. All the guys that tried to hit on her mysteriously left her alone after she started gushing about her ‘boyfriend’.

She owed Jalil something nice, after this. Maybe she should bake him something! He wasn’t one to admit it, but he liked sweets and much as his little sister.

She should ask Mom if she could use supplies from her restaurant. If not, she’s fine with baking at their apartment or at Dad’s…

Jaina’s fingers fly over her phone as she texts Mom her request. Thankfully, no one else decides to bother her while she stays on her phone, until the announcement that the remaining students should move to the ballroom.

She stands, gathering her things, and moves with the rest of the remaining crowd. Even the woman manning the snack table’s loaded up a little cart with the leftovers, probably to take it over to the ballroom.

Jaina walks through the double doors, blinking at the ginormous space. It’s all polished wood floor, the ceiling with normal light fixtures, barring the middle off the room holding a large chandelier, with four smaller chandeliers flanking it in a rectangle. One entire wall is made of floor-to-ceiling windows to let in natural light.

There’s large tables everywhere, each manned by two people, signs declaring the different majors. In the middle of the space, staggered in small sections, are rows of metal chairs. No doubt set up so people can sit while they wait to finish signing up for classes.

The snack table is in the corner, but they’re three tables shoved together. One’s just for the drinks, with ginormous dispensers of ice-cold lemonade and water.

“Huh. Fancy,” Jaina mutters under her breath, looking around herself. She keeps her eyes peeled for the Arts section, moving slowly across the ballroom to look at all the tables’ signs.

Art, Music, and Theatre are three tables literally shoved in a corner of the room, after passing by English and Philosophy. Across from the arts in the opposite corner, ironically enough, is Criminal Justice.

Jaina pulls a number from a ticket dispenser, feeling dejavu. It’s like she’s going to get her driver’s license all over again…

Holding her ticket, Jaina looks around herself. She should probably sit down and wait her turn.

There isn’t as much seating here as there was in the auditorium for sure, but she doesn’t mind sitting next to someone else. Her eyes quickly land on a girl sitting at a back corner, who’s sporting a badass undercut and leather jacket, and decides to go and make friends.

“Hi! Sorry, but can I sit here?” Jaina asks the cool-looking girl, smiling apologetically and pointing at the open chairs next to her.

The girl blinks back at her with pretty emerald eyes, looking vaguely surprised. “Oh, yeah, sure.”

“Thanks!” Jaina chirps, carefully maneuvering across the girl’s knees, making sure she doesn’t bump into her. “I think I pulled one of the last numbers in my major, so I’m sorta stuck here for a while. You?”

“Same,” the girl shrugs, disinterested except for the way she’s eying Jaina with what looks like equal parts curiosity and caution.

Hm…Jaina doesn’t want to scare her away, but this girl seems super interesting. Maybe she’s an art major, too? Jaina can only hope.

“I love your hair, by the way! Undercuts are super cool,” the redhead compliments with a smile. “I tried getting one once, but my curly hair made it hard to tell.”

“…Thanks,” the girl nods at her, voice quiet and a little gravely. “Sucks that the hair thing didn’t work out.”

“It really does! Wish I could pull it off like you,” she admits, fiddling with one of her curls.

“Your hair’s nice, though,” the other girl says, with a small grin. “Don’t think I’ve ever met someone in real life with the exact color and texture as yours.”

“Aw, thank you! It’s all natural,” Jaina jokes, throwing in a quick wink. She swears, she sees the other girl’s cheeks go slightly pink.

Oh…? _Interesting_.

“Yeah, isn’t red hair supposed to be super rare?” someone else asks.

Jaina holds in a sigh, forcing her smile to stay on her face as she turns from flirting with the cute punk girl to some rando guy that’s slotted himself neatly into the conversation.

“Oh, it is! My boyfriend loves rattling off the statistic to me about it all the time,” Jaina goes on, with only vaguely polite interest. “Less than two percent of the world’s population has red hair. Crazy, huh?”

“Uh, yeah…Crazy,” the boy says, with a weak laugh, darting his eyes between Jaina and the punk girl. He smiles stiffly, suddenly standing from his seat. “Well, good luck with your schedules.”

“Good luck,” Jaina says politely with a small smile, watching as he speed-walks away. Probably to go to the bathroom or snack table to save face.

The redhead snorts, unable to keep herself from muttering under her breath, “That’s the third time today. _Seriously_?”

Jaina darts her gaze to the girl next to her, who quickly snaps her gaze away from glaring at the other freshman’s swift retreat.

The redhead doesn’t stop the smile that spreads on her face. “Hey, thanks for that.”

“No need to thank me,” the punk girl shrugs, though she smiles back all the same. “You had it handled.”

“But backup’s always appreciated,” Jaina points out, unable to help herself as she makes a motion with her arms of bowing to the other girl, always willing to make a joke to brighten the situation. “I’m forever grateful to my hero.”

The other girl lets out a sharp bark of laughter, her smile knife-edge sharp. It’s a nice smile.

* * *

Blemir just about feels her heart leap straight out her chest when the redhead turns to her with a soft smile and a “Hey, thanks for that.”

“No need to thank me,” she shrugs, feeling herself smile back, the motion tentative. “You had it handled.”

Besides, it’s not like Blemir even did much. Amazon girl shut the guy down before he could even start. All Blemir did was glare at him to get his ass to leave them alone.

It worked out better than she’d thought. Not only did rando boy decide to leave them be, he literally got up and scuttled off, like a dog with his tail between his legs.

Blemir might be pansexual, but god _damn_ , are some guys supremely _grody_ with how pathetic they act.

“But backup’s always appreciated,” the redheaded goddess says, motioning with her arms as if bowing to Blemir. “I’m forever grateful to my hero.”

Blemir can’t help it, she laughs. Nearly surprises herself by the way she cackles and smiles back at the redhead.

This girl was funny, on top of being nice and outgoing and absolutely _gorgeous_ …? Seriously, she’s starting to look more and more like the perfect girlfriend.

“I’m not a hero. Just a girl,” Blemir shrugs, a small smile still on her lips as she half-quotes her favorite MCR song.

“Agree to disagree, then,” the redhead says with a shrug and a dizzyingly gleaming smile, grey eyes twinkling in mirth. “Still, it’s nice to meet someone that _gets_ it. I’m sure you get a lot of that happening too, right?”

“Not really,” Blemir manages to say, through her suddenly dry throat.

“Oh, c’mon! Your aesthetic is killer, and you’re really pretty, and from what little I’ve talked to you, you seem pretty cool,” the redhead responds, with an insane amount of blunt honesty. The map of freckles on her face shifts as her cheeks pull into a cute, crooked smile.

Blemir tries to fight down a blush. Oh God, was this hot babe trying to flirt with her? Or was she just naturally friendly? It was always hard to tell with girls.

But, wait, didn’t this chick say she had a boyfriend…? She must be naturally friendly and outgoing, then. The type of person that seems to accidentally flirt with everyone without meaning to.

“…One glare, and I send people running,” Blemir says dryly, with a shrug, trying to beat down the butterflies in her stomach. “So, I dunno.”

“Sounds like a useful skill to have, then,” the other says lightly, almost teasingly, before she perks up. “Oh! I’m Jaina, by the way! Almost forgot to introduce myself, there, sorry.”

Oh dear God, this girl—Jaina— was _adorable_ too. Especially with the way her smile turned sheepish.

“…Blemir,” she eventually answers past the lump in her throat.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Blemir!” Jaina answers, bright and warm like the sun. “And it’s good to know the name of my hero.”

Blemir finds her face going warm, sputtering out a laugh. “A-Are you still on that…?”

“Yup!” the other girl chirps with a crooked grin. Jaina leans forwards slightly, lowering her voice in a conspiratory whisper. “Girls gotta stick together. ‘Specially with how some assholes just wanna get in your pants, y’know?” she asks with a playful roll of her eyes.

“ ** _I’m_** _an asshole and **I** wouldn’t mind getting in your pants_,” Blemir thinks, but doesn’t say.

Instead, she says, “Oh, yeah, I totally get it.” All cool and natural-like.

Yes, go Blemir. A+ socialization.

But the freckled girl giggles, which is a win.

“Actually—can I tell you a little secret?” Jaina asks, grey eyes gleaming, an impish look on her face.

She really doesn’t even have to ask. Girl could probably tell Blemir she ripped a man in half with her bare hands, and it wouldn’t phase her. Hell, she’d probably ask if the goddess needed help hiding the body.

“I mean, if you want…?” Blemir asks bemusedly, fighting down the heat in her cheeks and Jaina leans in to whisper.

“I don’t even have a boyfriend. My best friend said I could use him as a cover.”

Blemir blinks back incredulously at the redhead, when she pulls back, an expression on her freckled face like a cat that got the cream.

“No shit?” Blemir asks, stunned.

Wait. Does this mean she has a chance…?

“Yup! He’s the absolute sweetest,” Jaina nods, smiling crookedly. “But I already talked about him enough today! What about you, Blemir?”

“…What about me?” she asks, just a bit strangled. Because, seriously. What did Jaina even _mean_?

“Well, what’s your major, for starters?”

Oh. So. She _wasn’t_ going to be asked out. Damn.

“Uh. Criminal Forensics.”

“That’s so _cool_!” Jaina gasps, with genuine excitement. “That’s such a tough thing to study! You must be really smart, then.”

Blemir can’t help but feel bashful, shrugging and pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Eh, I guess…? What about you? What’s your major?”

“Studio Art!” the redhead says, straightening in her seat and beaming like the sun. “I mean, it’s definitely not as cool as Criminal Forensics, but—”

“Hey, c’mon, Art’s pretty cool!” Blemir interjects, because it _is_ , for one, and two, a girl as sweet as Jaina shouldn’t doubt herself. “I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, so I think anyone with a talent in the arts is pretty baller. What art do you mainly make?”

“Ooh, that’s a tough question,” the freckled girl hums, tapping at her chin with a bright-painted nail. “I’m a multi-media artist, but I mainly do drawing and painting! I’ve even painted a few murals before.”

“Damn, you’ve painted _murals_? That’s impressive.” And it was. Murals are, like, _ginormous_. They probably take a long time to paint.

“My Mom commissioned me to paint murals for her restaurants, that’s all,” Jaina says modestly, but she shines with a radiant energy of soft pride.

“That’s still super fucking cool, girl. Good on you,” Blemir says, giving the freckled girl a light punch on the shoulder. “Get those commissions and paint those murals!”

Jaina throws her head back and laughs, a loud and delighted sound. She looks even more gorgeous like this, laughing freely.

Blemir wonders if it’s natural to fall so quickly for someone, because this is some fucking fairytale-type shit going on in her heart.

“Criminal Forensics number seven?” someone calls, loud and sudden.

Blemir snaps her gaze over to an annoyed-looking woman with glasses standing by the Criminal Forensics table. Blemir blinks, before her brain reboots, and she remembers, shit. She’s number seven.

Feeling supremely flustered, and not exactly thinking straight, Blemir snaps her hand in the air. “H-Here!”

Aw _fuck_ , she’s such a dumbass. She’s not even in class yet, and she’s acting like she’s back in public school on a roll call!

“Please come up to the desk, then,” the glasses-wearing woman says, voice long-suffering, tapping a pen on her clipboard.

Blemir cuts eye contact, ducking her head to fumble with her things.

“Oh, shit, sorry for distracting you!” Blemir looks over, watching as a contrite expression falls on Jaina’s face.

“S’fine,” Blemir tells her quickly, already feeling the piercing gaze of the Forensics teacher drilling in her skull. She gives a small, awkward smile to the redhead. “It was nice meeting you, Jaina—”

“Waitwaitwait,” the girl yelps, surging forwards and grabbing onto the folder in Blemir’s sweaty grip. “Here, lemme just—”

The freckled girl whips out a pen from somewhere, scrawling something quickly on the corner of one of the handouts.

“Text me later, so we can keep talking, ‘kay?” the amazon goddess asks, with a bashful little smile.

Blemir feels herself freeze completely.

“Number seven…!”

“Yeah! Sorry!” Blemir squeaks, turning right around and speed-walking towards the hard-ass, cock-blocking woman who was standing by the Criminal Forensics table, tapping her foot impatiently.

_“Fucking Karen-looking-ass bitch_ ,” she grumbles in her mind.

But hey, at least Blemir got a cute girl’s number out of the deal…

* * *

“Hey, sis—What’s with you?” Nathaniel asks, watching Jaina warily as she all but dances into the house through the front door.

“Oh, nothing! Just finished Freshman Orientation,” she sing-songs, shucking her boots off. She’s got her schedule worked out, and she gave a cute girl her number today. Blemir just texted her a little bit ago, so, even better!

“You look _way_ too happy about that. Something else must’ve happened,” Nathaniel notes, quite logically. She’s proud she’s got a smart little brother, but sometimes he used his intelligence to be snarky or nosy, like now.

“That’s for me to know, little lamb,” she says, reaching out to ruffle his hair. Her little brother whines, swatting her hand away. “I’m gonna bake some cookies for Jalil as a thank you! You wanna help?”

The boy perks up, the blue eye uncovered by his emo bangs gleaming. “You’re baking cookies? Hell yeah, I want in.”

“Good, since I’m baking enough for both our families,” Jaina starts, an arm around her little brother’s shoulders as she leads him to the kitchen. “Or if I’m lucky enough, enough cookies for everyone else to try them before you and Alix binge-eat them all—”

“—That was _one_ time, okay?!” Nathaniel sputters out, defensive. “And it wasn’t even my fault! But noooooo, no one ever let’s me live that down…”

“Actions have consequences, little lamb,” she says lightly, booping him on the nose. Her little brother wrinkles his nose and sticks his tongue out at her. Despite having his Bar Mitzvah not that long ago, he still acts like such a little kid, it’s kinda funny. But he’d get all pouty if she points it out, so she doesn’t.

“Stop making faces, or your face will freeze like that,” she states, faux-seriously.

“That’s an old wive’s tale.”

“Maybe. Or maybe not,” she shrugs, smiling rather cheerily. Nathaniel tries to wiggle out from under her arm, but all Jaina does in response is pull her baby brother in a different hold. “Now, are you gonna help, or am I gonna have to carry you to the kitchen like a kitten?”

“Would you even give me a choice?” her little brother sighs, long-suffering, before Jaina kneels slightly and flexes, hauling her brother under his armpits. His voice and expression are both dry as he notes, “Thought not.”

“You used to love me carrying you around, little lamb! What happened?” Jaina asks morosely, as she carries her baby brother into the kitchen. Kid was barely five foot one and scraping by at a hundred pounds soaking wet. Jaina pumped more iron on the reg than what Nath weighed.

“I realized that being carried like a sack of potatoes by my big sister _and_ best friend was ridiculous,” Nathaniel drawls, going limp in her hold to act as dead-weight, just to be a brat.

“Shhh, just go with it, little brother.”

“I sort of don’t have any other choice.”

For his cheek, Jaina literally dumps his butt on the counter, noting sweetly, “Aw, like this, you’re almost tall!”

“I hate this fucking family.”

“You love me, don’t lie,” she cackles, opening a cupboard and shoving a mixing bowl in his hands. “Get the dry ingredients ready.”

“Fiiiiine,” Nathaniel sighs, staying on the counter as he turns and opens a cupboard, digging through it. “These better be good cookies…”

“They’ll be the sweetest,” she promises, looking up the recipe on her phone. But even as she collects the eggs and butter, her mind is elsewhere.

She sort of wishes she could give some cookies to Blemir…She doesn’t even know if the punk girl likes sweets, or what her favorite flavor is, but. Jaina _wants_ to know.

Maybe Jaina will get to know Blemir well enough to know these type of things.

The thought makes her smile.

* * *

Marc blinks over at Blemir when she walks in, from his position curled up at the corner of the couch.

“Did the orientation go well?” he asks, sweetly curious.

Blemir sighs, dazedly shucking off her shoes and going over to the couch, collapsing next to her little brother.

“I met a literal goddess,” she states, with a sickening amount of gooeyness. “And she gave me her number.”

“Oh…! Congrats!” Marc gasps, leaning forwards and smiling brightly. “What’s she like?”

“She’s like, six-foot-tall, and could bench press me,” Blemir starts with, barely clamping her mouth shut before she goes into a less-than-appropriate territory with her descriptions. “Uhhhh, and she’s super nice, and super sweet, and confident, and pretty, and funny, and talented. Did I mention she was gorgeous? Because she looks like an amazon warrior, and I…Yeah.”

Marc giggles, looking delighted as he coos softly, “Ooooh, sounds like you’re in love, Blem.”

Her face goes as hot as a furnace, eyes blown wide as she sits up with a yelp. “What! N-No! No, it’s, it’s not like that!”

All Marc does is smile at her, fond and soft, green eyes bright and crinkled. “Well, you sounded like how Mama Carmen talks about Mom.”

Blemir instantly snaps her mouth shut, goggling at her little brother.

He leans forwards, taking one of her hands in both of his. “I’m happy she makes you happy, Blem.”

“I don’t even know if she’ll date me,” she interjects weakly, even though she’s over-analyzed their interaction and their subsequent texts like some wild conspiracy theorist. Jaina totally came off as flirting with her, especially by the end, and her texts had a lot of cute little emojis that were maybe flirty too?

Honestly, Blemir’s just hoping for the best.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Marc states, with utter confidence, squeezing her hands. “You always do.”

The faith her little brother has in her is…uplifting. And also ridiculously sweet, but this is _Marc_. Kid’s as sweet as they come.

“Sure. Thanks, baby bro,” she sighs out, gently disentangling their hands so she can bring him in a quick hug, ruffling his hair. “Now, d’you know what we’re doing for dinner today? I’m starved.”

She may deflect and change the subject—which Marc lets her do—but her thoughts keep going back to the girl she met today. Jaina.

Blemir’s got a good feeling about her.

Blemir smiles and doesn’t try to hide it.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Jaina Kurtzberg is my OC. Blemir Anciel is bloodweb's OC.
> 
> Jaina is a Hebrew name meaning “Gift of God”, matching Nathaniel’s name meaning “Gift of God” or “God has given”.
> 
> My drawing of Jaina:  
> https://mexicancat-girl.tumblr.com/post/623840260076519424/nathaniel-goes-to-his-big-sister-for-advice-on-a#postnotes
> 
> Blemir by bloodwebs:  
> https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/659753718971105286/733832502661218364/Blemir.png
> 
> Jaina drawn by bloodwebs:  
> https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/659753718971105286/733631697802756097/Jaina.png
> 
> Jaina and Blemir by Username8746489:  
> https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/659753718971105286/733540296889073725/Untitled293.png


End file.
